Clasp.



H. G. ARNOLD.

CLASP (Application filed Dec. 23, 1898.)

m ZJZ (No Model.)

' Wflmwoeo m: ucmms PETERS 60.. PNuTo-umm WASH UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE. I

HERMAN G. ARNOLD, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 627,742, dated June 2'7, 1899.

Application filed December 23, 1898. Serial No. 700,094. (No model.)

' lowing is a specification.

This invention in clasps relates most particularly to claspsof that character commonly known as garment-clasps, the object of the invention being primarily to furnish a simple, inexpensive, and easily-manipulated device of this character which. may not only be used for supporting a garment, such as;

mens drawers, whereby such under-garment may be held in place with relation to the trousers or outer garment, but which device may also be conveniently utilized as a de tachable holder or fastener for suspenders, eyeglasses, pencils, &c.

Afurther object of the invention is to provide a clasp or fastener embodying a back plate having one or more projecting perforating prongs or barbs at one endthereof and having the opposite end thereofbent in U form to provide a bearing-plate, and a front plate or retainer pivo'tally supported on the back plate for movement in a plane parallel to said back plate and transverse to the longitudinal plane of the prongs.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of garment-clasp embodying my invention, the retainer or pivoted front plate being shown in its depending or cloth-releasing position. Fig. 2 is afront view of the clasp with the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section of the clasp, showing the same applied to a garment and also showing the retaining or front plate. in its cloth-engaging position, this figure showing the pivot which connects the front and back plates provided with a button or Suspender-holder; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, showing the pivot furnished with an eyeglass holder or hook.

Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures.

As a preamble to a detailed description of the construction and organization of the parts of the clasp constituting the subject-matter of the present invention it is desired to state I mote parallelism, and one of which has, preferably, a series of fabric-penetrating prongs 3, extending outward toward and in lines intersecting the path of movement of the other.

The back plate P, which will preferably be constructed of sheet-steel of considerable rigidity, is shown bent outward and downward at its upper end, as at 4: and 5, respectively,

to form a bearing-plate for the front plate,

which bearing-plate is disposed in advance of and parallel to the main body of the back plate. and to which bearing the front plate P is pivoted. The back plate P is shown provided with a series of fabricpenetrating prongs 3, which extend outwardly, preferably at right angles thereto, and which are of a length slightly less than the distance between the front and back plates. These prongs may be in practice formed of steel wire pointed at their outer ends and secured at their inner ends to the back plate in any suitable man- 'ner, as by riveting, screw-threading, or otherwise, or it may be sometimes desirable to form the penetrating prongs as a part integral with said back plate in any well-known manner.

In some cases the pivot 2, which secures the front plate P to the relatively short depending portion 5 of the back plate, will be furnished at its outer end with a holding device H, which holding device maybe in the form of a button, as shown in Fig. 3, to which the Suspender-ends may be secured, or may be in the form of a hook, as shown in Fig. 4, whereby a pair of eyeglasses may be suspended therefrom, (the clasp in this latter oasebeing attached to the upper edge of a West ,tuting the subject of the present invention is supported on the back plate for movement parallel to said back plate and at right angles to the direction of penetration of the prongs 3 on said back plate. Therefore it will be seen that no pulling strain is exerted upon the front plate when the clasp is attached to the garment which would tend to change the relative positions of or spread the front and back plates, and thus allow a disengagement of the garment from the prongs, as frequently happens with clasps of ordinary construction.

In practice some suitable form of catch or locking device will be employed in connection with the front and back plates for holding the front plate in a garment-engaging position.- This locking device in the form thereof shown most clearly in Fig. 3 is preferably automatically operative and is in the nature of a detent device and consists of a teat 7, formed on one plate in position to engage in an indentation 7', formed in the other plate, the teat being shown in this figure as formed on the front plate and the indent being shown as formed in the bearing portion 5 of the back plate.

' The front plate will in practice he constructed of resilient steel and will be preferably bent slightly inward, as at S, at the lower end, so that when the same is in a depending position it will closely engage the material or fabric located between said front and back plates.

In attaching the clasp to a piece of fabric the front plate or retainer P is swung edgewise to the position shown in Fig. 1, which leaves the prongs exposed, after which said prongs are forced through the fabric from one side and the front plate is then returned to its normal depending position and engages the other-side of the fabric, holding the same against displacement with relation to the prongs.

I claim 1. A clasp comprising a back plate having its upper end bent outward and downward to form a bearing for a front plate; a front plate disposed in parallelism to the main portion of the back plate; a pivot extending transversely through the front plate and the bearing portion of the back plate; a series of prongs fixed to the lower end of the back plate and having their longitudinal axes in parallelism with said pivot; and an automatically-operative catch connected with the front plate and efiective for holding the same against accidental displacement when in a fabric-holding position.

2. A clasp comprising a back plate having at the lower end thereof one or more prongs disposed at right angles to said plate; a front plate supported on the back plate for movement in a plane intersecting the axial lines of said prongs; a front-plate-supporting pivot extending through the front and back plates and having at the outer end thereof a hold" ing device, substantially as described.

3. In a clasp, the combination with a front and back plate, one of which has a series of HERMAN G. 'ARNOLD.

Witnesses:

PERCY ROTHVVELL, E. O. WHITNEY. 

